The Boy Through the Window
by KCKibbles
Summary: "The choice is yours, Ginny. You can assist me in searching for the pieces of my soul capable of redemption in order to pass on into what's after death or you can watch helplessly as I take the life of your unborn child so that I may live again. I personally don't care which."
1. Chapter 1

The first time she saw him was during the Easter holidays when she and her family were visiting her parents at the Burrow.

It was only by chance she looked out the window. Her mother had been gushing on and on about Ginny's unborn baby as Harry talked about different names he considered. Privately she hoped she would have a chance at naming their third child, but she didn't have the heart to tell him that. Bored with the conversation she was not really a part of, she looked out the window.

Because the conversation was taking place in Ginny's old bedroom, she was given a clear view of the orchard behind the Burrow. She was surprised to see the tall figure of a man there. He wasn't too close, just far enough to have been passing by and happening to have spotted their house. Ginny would have assumed that was the case if he hadn't been just standing there, staring. She leaned back in her seat to hide from his view, mentally scolding herself for hiding. She could look out the window if she wanted to! He was the one who hadn't been invited.

Stubbornly, she looked outside again, vaguely disappointed to find he had disappeared.

The second time Ginny saw him was almost the same as the first. That time, however, had been at night when she was in her home just a week later. She'd gone into the bathroom when she felt a wave of nausea overcome her. Although she hadn't thrown up in ages, she was still cautious about where she was when she began to feel ill.

Pleased that she didn't puke everywhere when the nausea passed, she washed her face and gazed out the window. The moon was only about a quarter full, but it was enough light to see the figure of a man almost pacing in front of her house. His head would turn up to look at it occasionally, but mostly it was facing up at the sky. She squinted, at first not realizing it was the same person as before. It was the height and familiar hairstyle that gave him away.

Unnerved, she backed away from the window and walked to James's bedroom where Harry was reading a story to their three-year-old (almost four) son. Luckily James had just dozed off so Harry was already leaving the room when she arrived.

"There's a man outside," she whispered when he closed the door behind him.

Harry looked at her curiously as if asking what she wanted him to do about it. Honestly. She would take care of it herself if she wasn't pregnant.

She rolled her eyes. "He's just there, watching."

He furrowed his brow and nodded. "I'll take care of it."

She watched him as he left nervously, and then peeked out the window when he was out the door. To her disappointment and frustration, the man seemed to have already left. After a thorough search around their property, Harry conjured a few wards and came back inside.

"I couldn't find a trace of anyone," he said. "You're sure you saw somebody?"

She could tell by the look in his eyes that he believed her before she even answered with a nod. It was just a standard question.

"I'll check on Al and keep watch for a bit, you go ahead and go to bed," Harry said. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before going to bed.

The next morning Harry reported nothing had been out of the ordinary.

The third time she saw him had been the shortest encounter by far. She hadn't even been sure if it was him. Ginny had been in Diagon Alley shopping for new clothes for the rapidly growing Albus. Her sister-in-law, Hermione, was with her, shopping for her little girl Rose. She was also pregnant, but only a month compared to Ginny's four.

Hermione had left her only for a moment to explore a bookshop. A large crowd was passing Ginny as she ordered an ice cream inside a brand new shop. She scowled when the treat was knocked out of her hand by a group of children as they hurried past. It was when she'd been bending down to clean up the mess when she saw the man for the third time through the parlor window. It was just a glance, and like all the other times, he was just staring. He had pale skin and dark hair and looked more like a boy than a man. After she picked up the dropped cone and looked up at the window again, he had vanished.

She didn't mention a thing to Hermione.

The fourth time was when she was sure she was hallucinating. It was probably the potions. She took a few potions to help her with the pregnancy. Ginny never really did like taking them; she was scared they would hurt the baby.

She knew it was in her head because she was sure the man… no, boy, was not really in her house. Not when she was home alone. And definitely not when the house was well protected by the Head of the Auror Office's very own wards. There was absolutely no way that he was standing in her kitchen, leaning against the counter as he stared at her stoically.

There was also no way this boy was _alive_ as he had been killed almost ten years ago when he was far beyond the age of a boy.

Yes, she was fairly sure Tom Riddle was not standing in front of her face.


	2. Chapter 2

The sixteen-year-old Tom narrowed his eyes at her when she finally managed to work her mouth.

"B-Bloody hell," Ginny gasped. "Bloody hell, I've gone mad." She stumbled back a few steps and tried to regain her composure when she almost tripped.

"That's a charming way to greet someone," he said.

"What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!" shouted Ginny. "Harry killed you!"

"Unfortunately."

She hated the fact that his conversational tone and casual stance was calming her. She felt around her robes for her wand until she remembered she had left it in her bedroom. "Get out of here. Leave me alone."

"You've… grown," he noted, tilting his head to the side. "I still remember you as a very unremarkable little girl. How long has it been? Fifteen years?"

"Go away."

He didn't move.

Harry would be back any minute with James and Albus was sleeping upstairs. If Tom laid a hand on her children… She didn't want to think about it. Harry would destroy him, all she had to do was buy time. She took a shuddering breath in an attempt to calm herself. What was the longest time a non-supporter of Voldemort was able to stand alive in his presence without a fight? She was pretty sure she was breaking records.

"I haven't done anything to provoke this mistreatment… nothing recent anyway," Tom sighed, crossing his arms and gazing around the kitchen as if he had never seen one quite like it before. Now that she thought about it, he probably hadn't.

"You're not supposed to be alive."

"I'm not." She wasn't sure if he was agreeing with her or saying he wasn't alive. He fixed his gaze on her again, studying her for a moment before pulling away from the counter and walking around her to look at a clock on the opposite wall. He glanced at the door leading outside.

"Why are you here?" she asked, trying to keep him from leaving.

_Harry will be here… Harry will be here…_

He didn't answer. If she didn't know any better she would say he was getting bored. If he was getting bored, he might do whatever it was he planned to do in the first place. Ginny licked her lips, glancing around to see if there was any weapon for her to use. All she saw was a loaf of bread, but she doubted it was stale enough to knock him out in one hit. If she retrieved a knife from the drawer, he would certainly notice. Well, she was now older than him, maybe she was stronger?

She looked back at him and almost cried out in alarm when she realized he had gone into the living room already.

Tom was now examining a few pictures on her fireplace. Most of them were of her brothers, parents, and friends. His eyes hovered over one of Ron and Hermione, and then he walked away toward the stairs. She ran ahead of him and blocked his way, glaring viciously.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

Tom rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to reply but the sound of a door slamming open stopped him. Both of their heads twisted to look at who caused the sound. Ginny's face contorted into one of horror while Tom just looked curious when James sprinted in.

"Mum!" he said excitedly. "Dad said I can go flying with him if you say!"

Ginny had no idea how to reply to that when Tom was standing just three feet in front of her. She could have sworn she heard Tom breathe the word "Mum?"

James wasn't even _looking_ at Tom. James loved people, he would have been blabbering on and on about some nonsense to any stranger if he stood still long enough. Why wasn't he doing it to Tom?

"I-I don't… I mean… yes, I'll just…"

Tom was beginning to look amused. "I surmised that nobody could see me quite a while ago." She stared at him in shock. He stared back at her in what she thought seemed to be fascination. "Nobody except you."

"Muuuum!" James whined.

"W-Where's your father?" she managed to ask.

"Here," Harry said, walking inside and closing the door. She heard Tom snort when he saw him and tried to ignore him. Harry took one look at her face and immediately noticed something was wrong. "Ginny what happened?"

"Yes, Ginny, what did happen?" Tom asked softly, staring at her in what she could only describe as gleefully malicious. To her disappointment, Harry did not react to his voice at all.

Harry grew more concerned the longer she took to answer. "Ginny? Are you ok? Is Albus…? What about the baby?"

Tom twitched at that last word and his eyes flashed down at her stomach. She tried to repress a shudder when she saw the greedy look on his face. Why would that be good news for him?

"I'm fine," she whispered. "We're all fine."

Tom left the two of them and wandered back into the kitchen. Ginny could have sworn he was moving slowly deliberately in order to torture her. Her eyes followed him around the house. It didn't go unnoticed by Harry who was now trying to follow her gaze, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

He cleared his throat, catching Ginny's attention. "You know who we haven't seen in a while? Teddy," Harry said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's get Albus and give Andromeda a visit."

Ginny sighed in relief. Harry would never play the skeptical cop like those on the Muggle TV, he saw a problem so now he was acting on it. "It has been a while, hasn't it? I'll get Albus, you wait here."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"You're the one who suggested it…"

He flushed. "Oh no, I meant to get… alone… Never mind."

Ginny glanced at Tom, and then went up the stairs, wincing when she heard his quiet steps following. She tried to hurry into Albus room before he could see where she went, but he was close behind and just entered the room with her.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, standing in front of the new bed they had bought for Albus.

Tom looked around her at the sleeping child and the small sign on the bedframe. "Albus Severus Potter, is it?" he asked, sneering. "Charming name."

"It's none of your business," Ginny spat. "What do you want? Why have you been following me? And why aren't you dead?"

He snorted. "Of course I'm dead," he replied. "Your dear husband made sure of that. There is no spell to bring back the dead. "

"Then what… Are you a ghost?"

A few emotions flashed across his face but he quickly reigned them in. "No," he said stiffly. He attempted to walk around her to get a closer look at Albus but she sidestepped to block his path.

"You know what? I don't care what you are anymore. I just want you to go away."

"We all want things." Tom tried to go around her once more but she just blocked him again. He looked momentarily frustrated but didn't try to get past her again, instead backing away a few steps to look around the room. "Who's Teddy?"

"Again, none of your business." Ginny reached over for one of Albus's outfits and stuffed it in a large bag. She had a feeling they would be staying at Andromeda's house for a few hours. "Whatever you want, I'm not going to let you have. Whatever you're going to do, I'm not going to let you do it. So get the hell out of my house."

"Oh Ginny, I think you'll find you won't have a choice."

Ginny thought she saw a red gleam in his eyes and shuddered. "What? You'll kill me? You'll kill my family? Of course I should have expected this from Voldemort. Doing either of these things won't help you with convincing me to do whatever the hell you want me to do."

"Voldemort is dead," he said slowly. "That era has come and gone. _Twice,_ actually. Those tactics are useless to me now. Neither do I have a wand to cast the Imperius Curse and I doubt I have the ability to hold a wand anyway."

"You're dead too so you're still Voldemort," she scoffed but he didn't seem to care. "So you can't do anything? How exactly do you plan to make me do what you want then?"

He smirked. "First I was going to ask you if you'd like to help me."

Ginny sneered. "If I refuse?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

She was about to say they were going to cross it right now because there was no way she would ever help him but the door to Albus's door opened and Harry walked in, looking worried. James was at his side, peeking around him and gazing at Albus instead.

"I heard you talking," he explained. "Is someone else here?"

"Just you, me, Albus, and James," Ginny replied in a voice calmer than she felt.

"And our dear old friend Tom," Tom added mockingly. "I'd tell you to reintroduce us, but we wouldn't want anybody to think you're mad, would we? Talking to a person who has been dead for fifteen years isn't a good sign."

"Ten," she corrected.

"What?" Harry asked, looking confused and even more worried.

"I told you so," Tom whispered softly. "Talking to yourself…"

Ginny almost snapped at him to shut up. It reminded her eerily of the diary during her first year. After she began to realize all the attacks that had been happening had something to do with her so Tom slowly began to convince her she was going mad. She almost killed herself after she thought she attacked Nick and Justin. Not that anybody except Tom knew that. She wasn't sure who she preferred, the Tom from her first year or Voldemort. She wasn't even sure which one was in her house.

"I meant, Teddy is turning ten this week, isn't he?" she asked Harry. "It's just a few days away, we'll be visiting him then for the party too. Do you think Andromeda would mind? Visitors are always a hassle."

"Clever save," Tom complimented as Harry thought about it.

"I'd like to visit him early, he'll be very busy at the party and I may not get to spend time with him," Harry said. "You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but I would appreciate it if you came to me for help, Ginny."

She smiled. "Thank you, Harry."

Harry just nodded at her and turned to wake up Albus. Ginny looked back at Tom and was surprised to see the piercing glare he was sending into Harry's direction. She would have assumed it was because of their history, but then it occurred to her that Tom hadn't been glaring at him before when he had first seen Harry.

It took only a few minutes to get Albus ready and they prepared to Apparate to Andromeda's house. Ginny glared in Tom's direction. He was circling Albus's old crib with an unimpressed look on his face. She prayed to god that he wouldn't be there when she came back. He looked at her as if he had read her mind.

"I'll be waiting for you."


	3. Chapter 3

"Harry!" shouted Teddy excitedly when he saw them from the garden. Harry was grinning at him and even Ginny managed to crack a smile. Andromeda was in the garden as well and seemed to be clipping some of her bushes without a wand. She raised a hand and waved at them.

"Teddy!" Albus squealed excitedly, attempting to wiggle out of Ginny's arms.

She lowered him onto the ground and he ran forward. James followed him quickly to keep him from falling on his face but still laughed when he did. Harry gestured for Ginny to follow him as he rolled his eyes and scolded James.

"It's been a whole week since you've visited!" Teddy said, crossing his arms and glaring at Harry after helping Albus to his feet. The younger boy ruined the effect when he started hugging him. "You used to visit four times a week!"

"I've been working, Teddy," Harry said guiltily. Ginny almost laughed out loud when she saw he was attempting to give the nine-year-old his best set of puppy-dog eyes. "I'm so sorry."

He looked at Harry reproachfully. "You _are_ coming to my birthday party, aren't you?"

"Of course we are!" Ginny said.

"You know they wouldn't miss it for the world," Andromeda said, letting James hug her. "Besides, the Weasleys have been visiting and you were too distracted to even notice Harry wasn't there."

Teddy blushed and quickly began to tell Harry all about the past week. Andromeda led Ginny and Albus into the house and started fixing some tea for them.

"How has Teddy been?" Ginny asked, pulling out a few toys for Albus to play with on the floor.

"He's a wonderful child," Andromeda replied. "A bit of a handful though, he remind me so much of Nymphadora when we're out in public. He likes to practice his ability, you know. I can't leave him alone for a second or he'll turn into some other child, especially if he doesn't want to come home. He did it just the day before in Diagon Alley."

Ginny giggled. "He tried that with us once, but when he saw us leaving without him he got scared and changed back. If you'd like, he can stay with us for a few days so you can have some time for yourself. James and Albus would love it and Harry will surely be coming home early those days."

"He's no trouble, but if Teddy would like to I don't see why not."

A half-hour later, Harry, James, and Teddy walked into the house covered with fertilizer. Andromeda glared at them sourly so Harry grinned back sheepishly and half-heartedly told the two boys how rolling around on the ground was inappropriate.

"You were doing it too," Teddy snickered.

Harry sputtered a few weak defenses of how he was stopping them from doing it but the clump of dirt that fell out of his hair said otherwise.

"Go wash off," Ginny laughed. All three of them slumped into the largest bathroom on the floor.

"So, Ginny, how have you and the baby been doing?" Andromeda asked when they left.

Ginny grimaced when she remembered Tom and how he was practically haunting her. "I've been fine. A bit tired lately because of the baby, but the nausea has stopped."

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl this time?"

"Harry wanted to check it at the Muggle hospital again, but I want it to be a surprise this time around." The whole experience had been uncomfortable to first time. She hadn't even been able to see the image of James on that strange screen thing. Harry had seen him just fine so she went along with it.

Andromeda studied her for a while. She flicked her wand and a tray of biscuits appeared. Ginny eagerly helped herself to one. "Molly says you've been going over different names."

She smiled at the thought of the names Harry had. He always named them after somebody. Lily, Neville, Luna, Cedric, Arthur… It was almost ridiculous. "I like the name Alicia or Katrina for a girl and Isaac or Andrew for a boy. We're still thinking about it though. I probably won't like those names anymore in a few days."

"Alicia Potter…" Ginny's head snapped around to the source of the voice. She paled when she saw Tom sitting on a chair in the corner. "Isaac alone is not too terrible, but Andrew Potter sounds better and Alicia rolls comfortably off the tongue."

"Something wrong, Ginny?" Andromeda asked. She was looking into the corner where Tom was sitting.

"Nothing," she whispered. "I just thought I heard something."

"You heard me," Tom said, smirking.

"Excuse me, I'm going to use the bathroom." Ginny almost slammed her cup down onto the table and walked to the second bathroom in the house. To her annoyance, Tom wasn't following. She gave him a quick glare and his eyes widened in surprise before he eventually followed her.

As soon as they both stepped into the bathroom, she shut the door and locked it, turning to glare at Tom.

"This is cozy."

She raised her wand and pointed it at his chest. He raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"Give me a good reason I shouldn't destroy you right now," Ginny growled. She wasn't sure if she could do it, but he had admitted he wasn't able to do much. If that was true, maybe he couldn't defend himself either.

With a small smirk he raised a hand and brushed his fingers against the wrist of her arm which was holding the wand. She shivered at the contact even though his hand was warm. She tried to keep her face blank. What would Harry do in this situation?

"You can't harm me," he replied.

"Nobody else is able to see or hear you except me. Maybe hurting you is a privilege reserved for me." Ginny hadn't had much faith in those words but when he saw the expression that flashed on his face for less than a second she knew it was something he hadn't thought about.

"That is not something I am unwilling to find out." He stepped closer, allowing the wand to poke his chest. For the first time Ginny noticed he was dressed in his Slytherin Hogwarts robes. They were obviously second-hand like the ones she had once worn in her Hogwarts years. Why was he wearing them? She swallowed nervously. He might have been the same Tom from the diary. All the clues were pointing to that.

"Didn't you say you would wait for me?" she asked instead. "You sounded so cryptic. You coming here in less than an hour after we left ruined the whole effect."

"Maybe so, but I couldn't help it. It seems I'm _drawn_ to you, love."

She jabbed him harder with her wand, furious. "Why? For fuck's sake, Tom, what the hell do you want?"

"I already told you, I need help."

Ginny licked her lips, not truly believing him. He had said the same thing earlier, but she hadn't believed him then either. What would Voldemort need help with? It wasn't like she would ever give it but that didn't mean she wasn't curious.

Tom brought his hand up and gently held hers. They were the same height even though Ginny was sure he was only sixteen compared to her twenty-six. He stared into her face and she found she couldn't move or break eye contact.

"I'm dead but it seems I am bound to the living world. I _know_ there is a significant reason as to why I'm drawn to you. I think it means you're the only one who can help me." His grip tightened on her hand and he sighed. "Ginny, I want to move on."


	4. Chapter 4

Ginny stared at Tom in shock. Thankfully her brain was still able to function and allowed her to remember something and come to a realization.

"You're lying," she declared. He blinked and she swore she saw the corner of his lips twitch. "You're scared of death. Why would you want to pass on now of all times?"

Tom dropped her hands. "Has the fact that I'm actually _dead_ now so it might have changed my opinion occurred to you? Being stranded here is hell, Ginny." She narrowed her eyes and he smirked. "Although you are right about my lie. To be perfectly honest this would have been the truth an hour or two ago had you not presented a brand new opportunity to me."

What kind of opportunity? Was it another way to pass on? To revive? She didn't remember saying anything that would lead him to finding a way to do something beneficial for himself. "What opportunity?"

"You've given me a way to live once again." He closed his eyes as if concentrating on something. "Yes, I think this will work well."

"Whatever it is, I'm not helping you with it."

"I don't need your consent for it, actually… However, for old time's sake, I'll refrain from doing it if you assist me with collecting the rest of my soul. You may not be aware, but my soul is incomplete."

Ginny sneered at him. Oh yes, she knew that very well. "You had seven Horcruxes."

"Did I? How fascinating," he said, looking smug. "That would explain a few things."

"Like what?" She wondered if Andromeda would come looking for her in the bathroom if she took too long. Would it be too worrying to find Ginny supposedly talking to herself?

"I am just one of the pieces of a soul, the piece that was inside the diary your first year. I am also the largest piece of the soul since I was the first part that was cut off. Ripping apart a soul is a violation against nature, it will eventually try to piece itself together; that is what I think is happening. The reason I am drawn to you might have something to do with the time you had written to me in the diary. We established a strong bond between our souls so we may actually be literally connected." He glanced at the disgusted look on her face, amused. "This is all a theory, of course."

"So… you're a Horcrux." Ginny's heart thudded loudly in her chest. That would make him even harder to destroy. She didn't have basilisk venom and she didn't think she would be able to control the _Fiendfyre _spell.

"A Horcrux is an _object_ that a wizard hides a fragment of his soul in. They are like anchors, keeping the main soul in the land of the living until it reconstructs a body for itself," Tom corrected. He seemed to think about it for a moment. "I suppose you can say I'm a piece of a lost soul. I am not keeping anyone alive, Ginny. Lord Voldemort is dead."

"Why do you need me?"

He hesitated; looking reluctant to explain (or perhaps he was coming up with a reason on the spot) but eventually gave in. "I can barely interact with the living world." He stood straighter and turned to the door, wrapping his hand around the knob. His hand was turning as if to open it, but the knob didn't budge. He pushed his hand against the door. "I am not a ghost so I cannot go through it. I can, however, vanish and reappear somewhere else if I've been there before or if you're there. I want you to be my physical body… without the use of possession of course."

"That's oddly specific."

"I'm sure there is something far more significant for you to do, but I haven't had many chances to test out those theories. Contrary to popular belief, there is no supreme being that tells you what to do once you're dead so all of this is a large guessing game for me."

The thought of actually helping him crossed her mind but she shook it away. "No. No, I refuse."

Tom frowned. "How unfortunate. You see, the other option is for me to use possession to live again." He looked down at her stomach and that greedy look flashed across his face again. "Possession of something small, weak, pure… like that of an unborn child."

Ginny paled. "You can't do that. That's not possible."

"Do you want to find out? The choice is yours, Ginny. You can assist me in searching for the pieces of my soul capable of redemption in order to pass on into what's after death or you can watch helplessly as I take the life of your unborn child so that I may live again. I personally don't care which at this point."

"Y-You're lying."

With a bored look, he reached forward and placed a hand on her chest. She was too shocked at the action to respond right away, but by the time she did it was too late. Tom's hand sunk into her body.

It was like having large needles shoved into her skin. Her body seared in pain as if it was being torn apart in every direction. Was her skin being torn off? She didn't know, but it seemed she was withering in pain, she hoped she wasn't screaming. Random strings of thought flew through her head and it frightened her that none of them were her own. Despite all of the pain, there was undeniably something foreign in her body, something spreading itself out into every inch of it and claiming it as is own. She had little control.

"You can feel me, can't you? Your baby is connected to your body as well, if I can possess you, I can possess it as well. Right before it's born I will take control." His eyes flashed red. "And you can try to kill me, yes. I will just be a defenseless baby… How will that look to your husband? To your children? You'll sound mad if you try to tell them the truth."

She dropped her wand and fell on the floor, Tom bending down with her to keep his hand inside. The thought that her baby may have been hurt crossed her mind but left just as quickly.

"So weak," he murmured, looking sincerely disappointed for just a moment. "You could almost resist me when you were only eleven. Is this what happens when you fall under the protection of St. Potter? You used to long for independence, to be the best, to make your mark… You were almost there, Ginny. I _helped_ you. Now here you are, crumpled beneath me. You may have been an unremarkable little girl, but as a woman you're just pathetic."

Ginny hissed a few unintelligible curses at him. Tom pulled his hand out of her slowly while he stood and waited for her to stop shaking and look at him.

"You never helped me!" she spat. She felt around the floor blindly for her wand and stood up, trembling violently. "You used me!"

"I lowered myself to help you. Did I _need_ to give you advice on what to do about your social life? Did I _need_ to encourage your relationships with Potter? Did I _need_ to tutor you in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" He shook his head, frustrated. "All I had to do was listen, but I wrote a bloody _sonnet_ for you to give to Potter, Ginny. You're inability to listen or act on my advice was entirely your fault."

The defense was out of her mouth before she could think about it. "You were just trying to gain my trust."

He snorted. "I had your trust two days after you began to write to me."

"_Reducto!_"

Tom flinched when the spell went through him, but it seemed he wasn't harmed. Instead, the door behind him exploded with a loud bang. The force blew her back and she hit her head against the sink, falling to the floor again with a groan. Tom looked like he was going to say something but Andromeda ran in, catching Ginny's attention instead.

"Ginny! What happened? How did…" The older witch shook her head and ran a hand over the injury on Ginny's head. She pulled out her wand and healed a cut, then went over the rest of her body, specifically her belly.

"Andromeda? Ginny? What happened?" Harry shouted, running into the bathroom with his wand out. Ginny looked up at him groggily, this bump on her head making her thoughts extremely muddled. Andromeda said something to Harry and left the bathroom but Ginny didn't hear what she said.

"Harry," she said weakly. "Harry, I see Tom. I'm seeing Tom all around… He wants the baby. He won't… he won't leave me alone."

"Come on, Ginny, we're going to St. Mungo's," Harry said, wrapping his arm around her.

"He thinks you're mad," Tom whispered urgently. "I warned you not to say anything. I _warned_ you."

"I-I'm not mad," Ginny murmured.

Harry froze. "No. You had a nasty fall, Ginny. I just thought we should check on the baby-"

"He's lying. The woman – Andromeda – she knows the baby is alright. She told Harry. I _heard_ her tell him. He's going to get your head checked."

She closed her eyes, trying to ignore Tom.

"Once you go they're going to check your mental status. You can try to pretend I don't exist but in the end you won't be able to ignore me, Ginny. The Healers will know you're seeing something. They'll think it's in your head, they will keep you there for weeks, they may hurt your baby…"

"Shut up!" she shouted. Harry pulled his arm away from her in surprise. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"You're making it worse!" Tom spat.

"Ginny, calm down." Ginny could hear the fear and uncertainty in Harry's voice. At the same time she could feel Tom's intense stare on her back. Her mind was still foggy and she was reminded of her first year of Hogwarts so long ago when Tom possessed her.

"Leave me alone, Tom!" she cried.

"I'm not doing anything to you," he said gently. She didn't believe him for a second.

Harry went down on his knees, trying to look at her face. "It's me, Harry." He took her hands into his own. "Something's wrong and we're going to fix it. Just relax. I'm going to Apparate us to St. Mungo's and we are going to check on the baby and everything is going to be fine."

"He's lying. Do you really think he's going to take you to St. Mungo's without having your head checked after you had a breakdown in front of him?" Ginny was unnerved that Tom actually _did_ sound worried that she would be admitted to some kind of psych ward. No, he had to be messing with her head, he was clouding her thoughts and making her think absurd things.

Harry's hands tightened around hers and she was suddenly terrified. She pulled her hands away from his and fumbled with her wand.

"You have to leave now," Tom said quickly. "Leave, Ginny. _Leave._"

With a loud CRACK, Ginny Apparated away.

* * *

**A/N:** This chapter is a mess, wow. Reviews are very much appreciated.


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